Villager Beat

Bay Beat

Bay Library Discussed: On the agenda of the Cuyahoga County Public Library this week (Sept. 27) was the Bay Village Branch on the agenda as a discussion topic for its Capital Committee Meeting at the Parma-Snow Branch.

Last spring, CCPL looked at building a new Bay Village branch in Huntington Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks. The Metroparks have since pulled out of discussions.

The Library has $8 million set aside for a Bay Village Branch improvement.

Possible locales for a new library in Bay Village or a branch renovation include:

A move to Cahoon Park, where a new library footprint would be developed.

A renovation and addition to the existing library at its present location behind the Middle School.

A new library at the existing site at the present location, possibly including a new build on the existing parking lot.

What would a move to Cahoon Park mean to Bay? Possibly a loss of trees or soccer fields. Would it be permitted under terms of the Cahoon Will? Probably yes. The will calls for the park to have a library. The provision is currently being met by the archival library of historic books at Rose Hill Museum and Osborn House.

If you have comments about this possible issue, let your Bay Village City Councilman know. Bay City Council members also serve as Cahoon Park Trustees, the managing body of the park.

Huntington Playhouse: Cleveland Metroparks put out a Request for Information a few months ago, looking for prospective residents for the Huntington Playhouse locale. Reports have the Metroparks receiving ideas from four different agencies:

Marigold Catering from Cleveland reportedly proposes to build a replica carriage house structure on the site that could be booked for events – costs in the range of $600k-$1 m.

BayARTS would like to expand arts programs there. No reported interested in theater arts, but more of what they are doing now. Estimated costs $250-950K.

Bay Community Theater proposes to serve community theater interests and bring the old playhouse back up to code compliance for $150-200K.